Elouise Cobell, a member of the Blackfeet Nation of Montana who is the lead plaintiff in the Indian trust fund lawsuit, issued the following statement today after a federal judge said an historical accounting is impossible.

"This is a great day in Indian Country.

"We've argued for over ten years that the government is unable to fulfill its duty to render an adequate historical accounting, much less redress the historical wrongs heaped upon the individual Indian trust beneficiaries.

"Instead of truthfully seeking to remedy the government's admitted historical mismanagement, the government elected to fight plaintiffs every step of the way.

"Judge Robertson has settled the debate in favor of plaintiffs and found that an adequate historical accounting is, in fact, impossible.

"Plaintiffs look forward to Judge Robertson's scheduling of a hearing 'determining an appropriate remedy' in light of their failure to render the court-ordered accounting."